The Decline of the U.S. Merchant Marine What's Going on With Shipping? February 5, 2022 On this episode of What's Going on With Shipping, host Sal Mercogliano - Chair of the Department of History, Criminal Justice, and Political Science, former merchant mariner, and instructor of Maritime History, Security and Industry Policy - discusses the major issues, causes, and events that have led to the decline of the U.S. merchant marine from the end of the Second World War to the modern day.